Andrew Perez

Toronto-based freelance columnist specializing in Canadian politics and public policy

Andrew Perez is a Toronto-based freelance columnist specializing in Canadian politics and public policy. His work has appeared in the National Post, Toronto Sun, Ottawa Citizen, Winnipeg Free Press, Edmonton Journal, London Free Press, iPolitics, The Hill Times and Huffington Post Canada.

Andrew has worked on Parliament Hill for government and opposition MPs through the non-partisan Parliamentary Internship Programme and completed a fellowship on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. More recently, he worked for the Ontario government in a communications capacity in the Office of the Premier.

Andrew holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University's School of Journalism and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Toronto's School of Public Policy and Governance. He currently works as a communications and public affairs specialist in the investment funds industry in Toronto.

If Conservatives are shrewd as they convene in Vancouver this week for their party's convention, they will plead with Ambrose to run for the party's permanent leadership while requesting a not insignificant change to the party's constitution that would allow the party's interim leader to contest the permanent leadership.

On its surface, the suburban Ontario constituency of London West is like so many ridings in the province. Dotted with sprawling established neighbourhoods, the community's residents personify Protestant Ontario: reserved, small-c conservative and hardworking. But the economic landscape in London West has changed significantly since the Harper Conservatives took power almost a decade ago. With economic fears front and centre and conventional political wisdom out the window, this formerly unremarkable riding has quickly become a microcosm for the October 19 federal election

Gentrification can crowd out, or displace, communities (typically ethnic) and social networks whilst newcomers transform the very character of our vibrant communities. It is a blow to low-income residents who often move out or stay behind only to pay higher rents. Our hidden agenda is not so hidden: Sustainable gentrification triggered by planned urban development -- not a brazen force blindly driven by dollars--that protects the most vulnerable in our communities long after the Pan Am athletes pack their bags.